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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679442">Before</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amsare/pseuds/Amsare'>Amsare</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 4, Persona Series</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene, Obsession, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Triggers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 06:15:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,018</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28679442</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amsare/pseuds/Amsare</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>He had created a certain image of himself, carefully crafted to deceive even the most attentive of his colleagues. No matter how many times he did what the others told him to, no matters how many <em>yes sir</em>, he managed to end up in one of the worst places on earth. The rural city of Inaba wasn't Tokyo, Adachi Tohru knew that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Adachi Tohru &amp; Yamano Mayumi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Before</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>As always, mind the tags before reading.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p><em>Humans are worthless. </em>He scratched his nose, sleepily gazing at the excited people coming and going from Junes. <em>What's so special about a shopping centre.</em> <em>This sucks.</em> He was bored, that wasn’t a surprise. Nobody would have expected him to be like that though. He had created a certain image of himself, carefully crafted to deceive even the most attentive of his colleagues. No matter how many times he did what the others told him to, no matters how many <em>yes sir</em>, he managed to end up in one of the worst places on earth.</p><p> </p><p>Filled with dreadful thoughts since the very beginning of his stay, his life wasn't going any better. The rural city of Inaba wasn't Tokyo, Adachi Tohru knew that very well. People all knew each other and visitors were considered outsiders. The friendliness of the community was an act, something you could find written on those pamphlets made for tourists.</p><p> </p><p>He hated them.</p><p> </p><p><em>But Tohru, if you try hard enough, you’ll be rewarded. People will notice you and respect you. </em>His parents used to say that and he used to believe in it when he was a student. At school he could show off his talents: his teachers praised him, his classmates envied him in silence. He could get drunk on that feeling, being feared and respected. <em>You’re so talented, Tohru!</em></p><p> </p><p>But school couldn’t last forever.</p><p> </p><p>He thought he could keep on playing his part and everything would have turned out the way he expected to. He got a fine job in the police, people called him <em>Detective</em> by the age of twenty-five. But Adachi had screwed up and his plans collapsed like a house of cards.</p><p> </p><p>He had never had talent in the first place: he would have never had success, nor recognition in his life.</p><p> </p><p>Lies, they had been all lies.</p><p> </p><p>He was destined <em>to rot in despair.</em></p><p> </p><p>“Good afternoon, Detective!” An old woman greeted him as she got to the shopping centre elevator, her silly bag in her hands. Her voice brought him back to reality. Adachi’s hands were clenched in two fists, his heart racing fast. “Good afternoon,” he answered politely, bowing his head.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>I’d better be as good as dead, they could replace me and nobody would even miss me.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Or maybe Detective Dojima would have; bossing him around the precinct was one of his hobbies. Speaking of whom, wasn’t his nephew coming from the city the following day?</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Great, another loser from the city. How lucky.</em>
</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>Adachi took a sip of his beer, leaving it on the tatami among the other empty cans. He shouldn’t have drunk so much before going to bed as he had to work the following day, but he couldn’t care less at that moment. Dojima would have scolded him anyway.</p><p> </p><p>The television was too loud but it was keeping him company. The pretty announcer girl on the screen was so close to the camera he could touch her. <em>Yamano Mayumi</em>. It seemed like she was having an affair with a married politician much older than her. <em>What a whore. </em>Only looking at that woman was making him overwhelmed with lust. When was the last time he had gone out with a girl? Most of the times, it was work-related. It turned out silly Detective Adachi wasn’t good enough. <em>Do they even know I exist?</em> They were all the same, just like Mayumi, playing with people’s emotions. He stretched his arm in front of him, putting his hand on the screen of the TV as to caress the young woman’s face.</p><p> </p><p>And that’s when it happened.</p><p> </p><p>His hand went inside the television as if he had put it underwater; he couldn’t feel the smoothness of the glass under his fingertips anymore.</p><p> </p><p>It was gone.</p><p> </p><p>“What!?”</p><p> </p><p>He blamed it all on the cheap beer he had drunk; probably he had passed out on the floor and now he was dreaming about entering his television. Adachi couldn’t help but <em>laugh</em> at the situation, looking in awe as he pulled his hand away from the rippling screen.</p><p> </p>
<hr/><p> </p><p>The news about Yamano Mayumi staying at the local Amagi Inn didn’t go unnoticed by the press; journalists were everywhere in the city, it was impossible to avoid them.</p><p> </p><p>“They won’t be able to enter, rest assured you’ll be safe,” Dojima tried to reassure the young woman before leaving the inn, “if you need any help, Detective Adachi is here for you. Call me at any time.”</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Oh, how ironic.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>Adachi managed to find her all alone: she froze as soon as he stepped into the room. All that he wanted from her was just some answers to his questions. He had to know the truth about her affair, he had to know if she was different. “You can tell me the truth, I’m here to protect you, am I not?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’d rather not talk about it,” her voice was shivering, “I’d like to be left alone right now, thank you.”</p><p> </p><p>He wondered if his mask began to crack under her doubtful gaze.</p><p> </p><p>Adachi’s heart skipped a beat.</p><p> </p><p>She looked scared; her beautiful face distorted by disgust.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>No, it can’t be. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>That woman was so full of herself, who did she think she was? He wasn’t doing nothing wrong.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Stupid woman. I’ll give you something to be scared of.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>The television was right behind her; he didn’t have to think it twice.</p><p> </p><p>Deep down he knew it would have worked if he had tried.</p><p> </p><p>Pushing Yamano Mayumi in the television was easier than he thought; it was like looking at a body going underwater, disappearing from the surface and never coming back out to breathe again.</p><p> </p><p>He burst out laughing as he hadn't done in ages, drunk on power.</p><p> </p><p>At least journalists couldn’t reach her now, wasn’t that what she wanted? For a moment he worried about Dojima, but in the end, he couldn’t care less. Nobody would have believed that Yamano Mayumi had fallen into a television.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>Serves you right.</em>
</p><p> </p><p>As he was getting back home, a thick fog covered the city of Inaba.</p><p> </p><p>It was just the beginning.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I wanted to explore Adachi's past and feelings, based on both the video game and anime.<br/>Thank you for reading! As always, you can find me on Twitter and Tumblr.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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